By Anthony C. Adamopoulos, Member of the MDRS Panel of Neutrals/Guest Blogger

The current “old” Child Support Guidelines provided a separate child support calculation where, for example, the father shared “financial responsibility and parenting time” of greater than one-third but less than fifty percent of the time.

This usually meant that if, for example, the father was with his children more than one- third of their time he was going to pay less child support than the father who is with his children about a third of the time. This adjustment is dropped under the new Guidelines announced on July 18th and formally effective on September 15, 2017.

While the formal effective date is not until September, experienced divorce attorneys, mediators and arbitrators have started using the new Guidelines.

What’s better than settling a claim? Settling 4-8 of them – all in a SINGLE DAY. MDRS is a leading provider of Settlement Days: mediation-focused marathons conducted at the insurer’s office where 4-8 cases are lined up for time-concentrated sessions with settlement as the primary goal. Secondary in nature, but perhaps equally as critical, are the avoidance of claims’ personnel travel time and expenses, a beneficial mediation fee schedule, and high settlement rates. MDRS can work with your firm to put together a framework that fits your needs, as well as a cost-benefit analysis. Call (800) 536-5520 for further information.

Found in the fine print of many cellphone, computer, car, and job contracts are terms and conditions including the waiver of a right to file a lawsuit in place of arbitration. Most of the time this provision is never invoked but a growing number of job seekers and consumers are realizing that if something does go wrong they may have unknowingly waived their right to file a lawsuit.

In some cases, lawyers are unwilling to represent consumers in arbitration complaints because of award caps in agreements. And in some other cases arbitration is unhelpful because arbitration decisions are typically not disclosed and not subject to appeal.

Arbitration can be particularly helpful when freely and knowingly agreed to regarding disputes between commercial entities. The issue arises when individual consumers unknowingly waive their right to file a lawsuit in the fine print of many adhesions contracts. Congress recently announced The Arbitration Fairness Act, which would help consumers understand their rights and advantages of arbitration.